Pastor Suze’s Pen – The Sweet Ache of Graduation

Dear Friends in Christ,

Last Saturday night while looking for a place to park by one of our favorite downtown restaurants, I noticed a familiar sight often observed this time of year: two beautiful young, young women adorned in prom gowns, their hair upswept, make-up so carefully applied, amazingly flawless baby skin over brand new womanly bodies, proudly walking across the parking lot to the restaurant. As gorgeous as they hoped to look while preparing for this big night, it didn’t hold a light to their actual beauty, on this early spring evening celebrating their graduation from goslings to swans. They would be met by similarly youthful men in tuxedos, and they would all play at acting like adults, dipping their toes into the more mature roles they wouldn’t actually fulfill for years yet.

But nonetheless, on this evening these young swans knew that their lives were transitioning. Upcoming final exams and commencement ceremonies supported this sense; but as excited as they were at the prospect, wondering what their futures would unfold, they also felt a special kind of sweet aching.

Graduation always balances these two powerful experiences together, both what we have known so well that we are now leaving, and that which has yet to be revealed, which right now is only shaped by our high hopes. And we had better get used to graduating, because our lives are literally made up of a series of graduation moments. No sooner do we become accustomed to a certain stage and our role in it, when we are pulled to the next chapter, and only God knows the whole story.

And so it is happening again.  Biltmore United Methodist Church is experiencing graduation. There is a joyous sense of celebration mixed with a most poignant nostalgia. Perhaps for the first time we are getting a glimpse of how far we have come and valuing what we have been through together. We have learned so much from this journey. Humbly we bow in recognition of what we have been given and trust God for what is to come. Our hopes are high, and our faith is stronger than ever, for we know that God has prepared something excellent for all those who love Him.

Your Pastor and Friend,
Suze